Westchester High School Remembers JFK 50 Years After Assassination

A high school in Somers, New York, will honor its namesake with a moment of silence and mass Friday.

This Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy Catholic High School in the Westchester County town of Somers will be commemorating its patron.

Construction on the high school began in 1964, just one year after JFK was killed. It seemed the natural decision to name the school after the first Catholic president.

Rev. Mark G. Vaillancourt, is the President of Kennedy Catholic High. He said JFK was an important figure in the Catholic American community.

“With John F. Kennedy you have a Catholic for the first time breaking through to the national scene,” Vaillancourt said, “as somebody who really became the most powerful person in the country, if not the world.”

The anniversary of JFK's death holds special meaning for Kennedy Catholic High School. The school's even received a visit from former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis at its first graduation ceremony in 1968, just 5 years after the assassination.

The famous first lady greeted the students and “wanted to grace the school with the Kennedy presence,” according to Vaillancourt. “The Kennedy family was well represented in her.”

The high school will honor John F. Kennedy with a moment of silence and commemorative mass.